Citizen helps lead police to suspect in burglary

New London – Police say a suspect in a theft from a motor vehicle was arrested on Saturday following some ill-advised detective work by a concerned citizen.

At 9:26 p.m., police were called for a report of a man who had broken into a motor vehicle on Montauk Avenue. Police said the concerned citizen began to follow the suspect, who was reported to be a Hispanic man wearing an eye patch, green jacket and carrying a backpack and shovel.

Earlier in the evening, the same man had knocked on the victim's door and asked if he could shovel the driveway for "a few dollars." The victim had told him no, police said.

The suspect, later identified as Luis Moya, 42, of 70 Farmington Ave., Apt. N2, New London, was located a short distance away walking on Farmington Avenue near the intersection of Katie Lane.

Moya was in possession of a straight-blade knife when he was apprehended, police said. Police later recovered a backpack and a GPS device from behind a nearby home, both of which the suspect admitted to having discarded, police said.

Police, in a posting on their Facebook page, said it was fortunate that no injuries were sustained in this incident. "However, the New London Police Department does not recommend citizens put themselves in danger by following suspects. The loss of property is not worth risking physical injury," the posting reads.